bickley



E. H. BECKLEY.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR.

WITDIJE% K K flw E. H. BICKLEY.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3. 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

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INVENTOR.

W I TNESS:

A TTORNL'Y.

for all records.

UNITED STATES QFIQE.

PHONOGRAPH.

Application filed March 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EVERETT HUCKEL BIcKLEY, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Phonographs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The nature of my invention consists in a means for cutting into a sound record an additional groove having a different and steeper pitch than the groove used to record the sound waves, said groove being a continuation of the sound groove, the object being to provide a guiding groove which. will throw the sound arm of any phono' graph to a predetermined center or inner circle of the record quickly, after the record has been played. The steeper pitch groove is cut by this mechanism in the master record disk, from which duplicates are afterward made, at the termination of the music by operating a lever conveniently provided, and the sound arm is raised off the disk at the predetermined radius, auto- .matically. The mechanism is stopped automatically also when the cutting is complete, said means being incorporated in and a part of the cutting mechanism to cut the sound record groove in the master record, from which duplicate records are made. A very simple attachment is now provided on many phonographs which will trip the stop when the tone arm reaches the last spiral of the record, but it must be set for each record. By the incorporation of this additional groove of steeper pitch into the record, and with the simple attachment mentioned above the phonograph becomes self stopping without setting or adjusting, The shape and character of this groove has been made the subject of an additional patent application which I filed Feb. 23, 1920, Serial Number $61,243.

It is avery diflicult mechanical problem to cut a spiral of varying pitch at the end of a spiral of uniform pitch and undetermined length, and especially a spiral of certain fundamental character such as one that will give a uniform side pressure on the needle point at all times. Furthermore there must be no angularity as the needle changes from one spiral to the other, and to accomplish the best results, the spiral should end at a predetermined distance from the center, by the bottom of the groove coming up to Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 362,971.

the level of the surface. This prevents damage to the fragile needles that are now used to play a large number of records without change. It will be noted that a master record made on this device is out completely at the one setting, with one cutting. The cutter arm is guided correctly for the fine spiral, and when the music ceases, by the operation of a lever a clutch is thrown in whereby the pitch is smoothly and gradually increased, and the groove ended at the proper place, in the correct manner without further attention, or operations.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the phonograph turn-table, the driving mechanism and speed controller, tone arm, sound box, engraving stylus and supporting shaft, the record disk and top of the phonograph. Incorporated with these customary parts is the novel mechanism for superimposing upon the movement of the tone arm an additional movement controlled by the motion of the turn-table and a specially designed cam to give a uniformly accelerated motion to the tone arm as it moves toward the center of the record. This view is sectionalized on the line AA. Fig. 2 shows the same mechanism rotated 90 degrees so that the rear view may be obtained, sectionalized at BB (Fig. 1). Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the tone arm elevating device. Fig. 4: is an enlarged plan view of the special cam and roller.

Referring more particularly to the parts, a is the disk of waX or other suitable material into which the sound record groove is cut by means of the scriber b." This scriber is carried on the sound box 0 and tone arm cl, which in turn is mounted rigidly on the shaft c. This shaft is provided with an integral cam flange f which rests on a cam ring g. This cam ring fits the shaft e snugly. The cam flange f is provided with 2. lug f which engages with the inside of the edge of the turntable a when the tone arm (Z is at the inner stopping position. The cam ring g is provided with a lug h for attachment to the link 71:. The operating lever Z pivoted at m is also connected to the link 7c by a rivet n. The adjustmentscrew o threaded through the base p engages the lower end of the lever Z and regulates the point at which the cam ring g operates on the cam flange f to raise the shaft 6 and parts connected therewith. On the lower end of the shaft 6 is rigidly mounted a worm wheel sector q carrying teeth which engage with the worm 9". It will be noted that under the lifting action of the cam ring g and the cam flange to the highest position, the adjustment is such that the teeth on the sector Q are disengaged from the worm 9'.

The worm r is loosely mounted on, keyed to, and rotates with the shaft 8, but is positioned on the shaft 3 by the frame 6 which passes through a slot in the arm 11. and carries a roller 0) which bears on the cam 20 under the action of the spring :0, which iscarried between the frame 25 and the arm a. The cam w is rigidly mounted on the shaft 3 said shaft being also provided with a clutch member y fixed to it. The other half of the clutch f is mounted loosely on, keyed to, and rotates with the shaft y, said clutch member is thrown into, or out of engagement with the clutch member y by means of the lever Z pivoted at m Integral with the shaft y is the worm 7 into which runs the worm wheel a driving the shaft 8. The shaft y carries spiral gear teeth y into which meshes the spiral gear a. Said spiral gear is mounted rigidly on the driving shaft 2 which is connected with any suitable source of power, such as an electric motor or spring motor. On the shaft y is also mounted the spiral gear if which engages with the spiral. teeth in the shaft said shaft 70 carries the centrifugal governor 70 and governor disk 70 The lever Z pivoted at m is provided with friction rubbers which engage with the governor disk 70* to control the speed. Adjustment of the speed is made by turning the screw 76 which operates on the lever Z to increase the friction on the governor disk 70* thereby reducing the speed of rotation of all the parts. On the tapered upper end of the shaft y is carried the turn-table a on which the wax disk a lies.

In operation the wax disk is placed on the turn-table cf the tone arm 05 is brought to the starting position. This releases the turn-table a which was held from rotating by the action of the lug F. The lever Z being in the off position. The lever Z is then moved to the on position. This lowers the scriber 5 onto the wax surface, and at the same time the sector g engages with the worm r.- The slow rotation of the worm 1* drives the tone arm toward the center in a long spiral of fine pitch. Any sounds made in front of the horn will be recorded as waves in the spiral line scratched in the 'wax disk by the s'crib'er b. When the piece or selection being recorded on the wax disk at has been completed, the lever Z is moved to the out position. This throws the clutch members i and if into engagement. The cam w is driven through the shaft if at the same speed as the turn-table a The roller o in following the cam surface under the action of the spring :0 actuates the frame it so that the worm r is slid along the shaft 8. The sector g meanwhile rolling in mesh with the worm threads and rotating the tone arm d so that the sc'riber Z9 cuts a steep spiral groove of increasing pitch as determined by the cam 10. As the tone arm reaches a predetermined point, gaged by the position of the cam ring 9' which is adjusted by the screw 0, the cam flange f starts to rise, lifting the scriber off the wax, and the record is complete. The tone arm d continues to rotate however until the lug f bears on the turn-table rim thus stopping the rotation. The lever Z is now moved to the off position, and also lever Z is moved off. The wax disk may now be removed, and another substituted. The mechanism for rotating the turn-table, and feeding the tone arm across the surface of the record is old, and many forms of this mechanism are in daily use. Also the governing mechanism is old, and no invention is claimed in these elements, but the means for scribing a high pitch spiral at the end of a fine pitch spiral, a means of lifting the scribe'r atan adjustable point, and stopping the turn-table when this point has been reached, is what I claim as new and desire Letters Patent for,

Having thus described my invention what I claim is;

1. In a record forming mechanism, the combination of a means for moving the surface of a prepared material relative to a recording device, a means of feeding said device laterally to the direction of motion of said surface, and a means for causing the feed of said device to increase according to a predetermined plan, when desired, substantially as described.

2. In a record forming mechanism, the combination of a means for moving the surface of a prepared material relative to a re cording device, a means for laterally feed ing the one relative to the direction of motion of the other, a means of superimposing at will, an additional feed, and a means of discontinuing the action of said device, when said feed has caused said device to reach a predetermined location, substantially as described.

3. In a record forming mechanism the combination of a means for feeding a re cording device, and a means for superimposing at will an additional variable feed, "substantially as described.

4. In a record forming mechanism the combination of a means for feeding a recorddevice to finish said groove, when said deing device, and a means of superimposing at vice, under the action of said feed has 10 will an additional feed substantially as deformed a groove to a predetermined location,

scribed. substantially as described.

5. In a record forming mechanism the EVERETT H. BICKLEY. combination of a means for feeding a groove Witnesses: forming device, a means of increasing said M. B. BICKLEY,

feed at will, and a means of acting on said L. F. SELLERS. 

